Novak Djokovic, with time on his side, outlasts Roger Federer

From New York — 

Tennis didn’t get what it wanted for the U.S. Open men’s final because of that one irrepressible and mystical figure who, sadly, is never wrong. His name is Father Time.

Late in a fifth set of a semifinal Saturday, with day drifting to twilight, in a huge stadium filled with 23,771 people — most edging forward in their seats and gasping at the drama of the moment — Father Time tapped Roger Federer on the shoulder.

He had two match points. Winning either would put him in a classic Sunday final against the young player who had replaced him as No. 1 in the world and who had won the first semifinal in a 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 walk in the park. Rafael Nadal had done his part, flicking away Russian Mikhail Youzhny in 2 hours 13 minutes.

The tennis world wanted the Nadal-Federer matchup. So did the general sports fan.

Federer is a legend, a man who has won 16 major titles, most of any male in history. Nadal is 24 and he has become the next big thing in the sport.

But Federer, at 29, was not going quietly. He was playing some of the best tennis of his life at this Grand Slam venue, where he had won five times in a row starting in 2004, had gone all the way to last year’s final before losing to a big-hitting 21-year old named Juan Martin del Potro, and had played his way to this year’s semifinal without losing a set.

But the Serbian spoiler, Novak Djokovic, a 23-year-old with sprinter’s speed and a baseline game of quirky angles, stood in the way. Federer won the first set, 7-5, but crumbled in the second, 6-1. Then he came back to win the third, 7-5, and crumbled again in the fourth, 6-2.

Fifth sets have built-in drama, so when Djokovic toed the service line at 4-5, 15-40, there was so much tension and so much at stake that it was a wonder either player could pull the racket back. But Djokovic did so perfectly, twice — first a gutsy swinging volley and then a crosscourt forehand that kissed the sideline.

Djokovic’s achievement: Two match points saved, against perhaps the greatest player of all time, in the largest stadium in the sport, packed with people, most of whom wanted him to miss.

“I closed my eyes and hit,” he said later, only half joking. “If it goes in, OK. If it goes out, it’s just another loss to Roger Federer at the U.S. Open.”

He had lost to Federer in the ’07 final and in the semis the next two years.

Djokovic also said, “This is one of those matches you’ll remember the rest of your life.”

Federer served at 5-5 and missed a forehand on break point. Djokovic served at 6-5, faced a break point and was bailed out when Federer missed yet another forehand. At deuce, Federer netted a forehand and on match point, he hit one wide.

The unexpected, but not unthinkable, had happened. Federer had lost just his second match in seven years at the U.S. Open, and had done so in a flurry of racket-frame miss-hits and shanks. There was little wind. By all accounts, the conditions were near perfect. But Federer had made 66 unforced errors, won only 34% of his baseline points and put little wear and tear on his strings.

So, there will be no Shootout at the OK Corral, no tennis High Noon Sunday. But there remains some history to be served.

Nadal, yet to lose a set and firing serves now as accurately and fast as his powerful ground strokes, can become the seventh man to win each Grand Slam at least once. He would follow in the footsteps of Don Budge, Fred Perry, Roy Emerson, Rod Laver, Andre Agassi. And, of course, Federer.

He would also become the third person, along with Agassi and Steffi Graf, to win all four majors plus an Olympic gold medal.

But Nadal doesn’t dwell on history. When you are 24, that’s about older guys, people you put on pedestals while you carry on. He says Federer is, “the best of the history, the best of the history that I ever see. I don’t know Rod Laver, how it was in the past, because I wasn’t in his world.”

Nadal is too busy with the present and the future.

“I go to practice every day not to practice,” he said. “I go to practice every day to try to learn something, and keep improving my level.”

Afterward, Federer — as is human nature —declared war on Father Time.

“I wouldn’t want to feel the way that I couldn’t compete with the new generation, but I can. It’s not a problem for me,” he said. “It’s a tough loss … but it’s only going to fuel me with more motivation to practice hard and get back to Grand Slam finals.”

His last one was this year’s Australian, which he won.

Djokovic admitted he was tired, pointing out that he had less than 20 hours to rest before Sunday’s 1 p.m. (Pacific) start. “I’ll try to recover,” he said.

It could be quick, it could be ugly. Nadal will be the overwhelming favorite.

He is, for the moment at least, feeling young and ageless.

bill.dwyre@latimes.com